North Korea’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the issue of the three U.S. citizens currently held in the DPRK is not currently a topic of discussion with the U.S., responding to recent reports that the issue has been discussed in back-channel diplomacy.

“The issue on detained Americans is not an object to discuss in view of the present atmosphere of DPRK-U.S. relations,” a spokesperson for the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, offering no further details.

Recent reportsby the Associated Press have suggested that the issue is being discussed between the U.S. and North Korea through the so-called